A Mean Field Games approach to Cluster Analysis

Abstract: In this paper, we develop a Mean Field Games approach to Cluster Analysis. We consider a finite mixture model, given by a convex combination of probability density functions, to describe the given data set. We interpret a data point as an agent of one of the populations represented by the components of the mixture model, and we introduce a corresponding optimal control problem. In this way, we obtain a multi-population Mean Field Games system which characterizes the parameters of the finite mixture model. Our method can be interpreted as a continuous version of the classical Expectation-Maximization algorithm.